


We First, Always

by WeDoShareAMoreProfoundBond



Category: The Walking Dead
Genre: Cannibalism, Mentions of Rape, Pre-Canon, Terminus (The Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 08:19:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2540843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeDoShareAMoreProfoundBond/pseuds/WeDoShareAMoreProfoundBond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on Gareth and Terminus before the events of the show.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We First, Always

**Author's Note:**

> I have been itching to write about Terminus ever since Gareth was killed off. It was just such a fascinating idea with an intriguing antagonist that should have had more back story than what was given. Let me know what you think.

They just wanted to be decent human beings. Give to those who didn’t have a chance. To help those that the world had screwed over when it went to hell. They put up the signs, the signs for a sanctuary promising that those who would arrive would survive. At the time it seemed like a good idea. Friends were made, relationships were established and people were happy. They didn’t have to worry too much about the walkers invading as the fences kept them out and the perimeters were watched to ensure safety for those seeking sanctuary. Terminus the sanctuary was called. At first it was a small band of people; Gareth, Alex, Mary, and a few others they had come across along the way. It had been Gareth and Alex’s idea to put up the signs. Terminus was functional, they had enough provisions to share with others and if they couldn’t band together to help people in need then what was the point?

Terminus: Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive the signs had said. They had been placed strategically in the hopes that wanderers would see them and come. There could still be good in the world. It didn’t have to be all death and fear. For a time, that was what was conveyed. Then it happened. The wrong people saw the signs and they came to Terminus. They seemed normal at first. They asked for food, which was provided for them graciously, and asked for a bed to sleep on, which was also provided. Then the next day, that was when things went to hell. Gareth wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but after breakfast when everyone had eaten, they were taken prisoner. Unfortunately for them, there were train cars around the grounds of Terminus. Those train cars quickly became prison. They were herded into them like cattle and locked in. They were the cattle, Gareth had soon realized, and once the screaming had started, he knew his captors were the butchers.

The screaming didn’t seem to stop. It didn’t let up once. Inside the train cars, people had reverted to curling up within themselves, shaking. They cried and they begged to be released. The butchers only laughed at them and then the murder started, The rape had begun a long time ago, it was brutal for everyone involved. They weren’t picky with who they chose. Mary was taken from the boxcar many times and Gareth couldn’t block out her screams and her cries. They only seemed to get louder. We never should have put up the signs, he thought. We brought this upon ourselves. The murders seemed to be drawn out, the screams only ceased when a person was well and truly dead. Whenever their captors came to select another person, they were covered in the  blood of the the last person who they had tortured and killed.

Gareth vowed to take it back. He wasn’t sure as to how yet, he couldn’t think with all the screaming and whimpering. They had taken their weapons from them the first chance they had, so that was out. He was also starving, none of them had eaten in a couple days. They were given water, but it was just enough to keep them alive. What if they had to endure this forever? They all had lost so much weight and were fearful. No one full out cried anymore, they whimpered. They shook when someone came near them. There was little comfort to be found. They were afraid.

The cattle car opened, and Mary came tumbling in, crying and screaming. He and Alex had grabbed her, attempted to tell her it would be okay. Everything would be okay, but it was hard to believe what you were saying, let alone someone else believe in what you were saying when another girl was dragged out of the care begging “No, no please. Not again.” Just as Gareth tried reassuring his mother once more, the tattooed man cracked his flashlight across Gareths head, telling him “No, it’s not.”

“We’re going to it back,” Gareth promised his family. “You’re either the butcher or the cattle.”

Gareth remembered what his life was like before the apocalypse. Before being a prisoner in his own home and being hungry all the time. He was a college student, studying to be a lawyer. He had a way with words and he wanted to put that ability to good use. He worked at Starbucks as a frustrated barista. Probably not a good choice as people pretty much sucked when they wanted to, but it paid the bills for the most part. He missed it now. He missed his friends, he missed who his mom used to be before this. He missed how Alex used to be before this. Most importantly, he missed a normal and functional world. Well, a slightly more functional world than this dysfunctional hell.

The door opened again a couple days later, but the crying girl didn’t come back. Instead, the man with the tattooed face came back in with something resembling meat. When Gareth mustered up the courage to ask what it was, he only grinned. A sinking feeling in the pit of Gareth’s stomach hit him when he realized what they were feeding the dwindling survivors in the car. He looked at Alex and realized it had hit him too. Mary looked sick. They had to eat, they knew that, they would die if they didn’t. But they were being forced to eat people who had become family to them. People who had done nothing except come to Terminus seeking an easier existence. Gareth took a bite. It wasn’t bad. A bit chewy. Then Gareth knew what he would do when they got out. He would keep these people prisoner. He would have them locked up as they had been and he would starve them. He would lead the remaining survivors and they would help people no more.

He didn’t know how he did it, but months passed by and he knew he had to take Terminus back. They needed to rebuild, they needed to come up with a cohesive plan to defend themselves. They needed to remember those who had died. The man with the tattooed face came in and he and Alex took the man down. Wrestled the knife from him, and led the remaining people out of the car. They slammed the door closed and bolted it. The butchers were going to become the cattle, and Gareth was going to make sure they suffered. Hours later, the Terminians were free for the first time in what felt like years, though it had only been months.

They got to work. Inside the largest room there was, they lit candles for the dead and painted their new mantra on the wall. Never again. Never trust. We first, always. Never again would they be taken advantage of. Never again would their own be hurt by an outsider. Gareth was going to make sure of that. After all, you were either the butcher or the cattle.


End file.
